Head of Safety

SUMMARY:
Our Client in the mining sector is looking for a HEAD OF SAFETY to join their team in Pretoria, Gauteng.

**South African Citizens and those living in the area will be preferred**

POSITION INFO:
Purpose of the Role:

The Head of Safety is responsible for leading the development, implementation, and maintenance of the company’s health and safety systems in line with South African mining and occupational safety legislation.

The role ensures that all statutory obligations of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) under the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) and Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) are met.

This role forms part of the company’s matrix support structure and serves as the strategic leader for safety across all sites and business areas.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership and Governance

• Provide strategic direction and leadership for safety across the organization.
• Ensure full compliance with all CEO & COO obligations as per South African safety laws (MHSA and OHSA).
• Advise the directors on legal safety responsibilities, risks, and governance matters.
• Represent safety leadership in executive meetings and reviews.
• Represent the company safety leadership at strategic client meetings and engagements.

• Design, implement, and continuously improve the company’s Safety Management System (SMS) and Fatal Risk Protocols.
• Implement and manage a cloud-based compliance management system on behalf of the company and ensure ongoing effective integration with all systems.
• Standardize safety procedures, risk controls, and reporting formats across all operations.
• Drive alignment of safety systems with best industry practices, including continuous improvement frameworks.

• Monitor effectiveness of safety systems and report on implementation progress, leading indicators, and lagging safety statistics.
• Prepare regular reports and presentations for the board of directors, identifying trends, risk exposures, and improvement plans.
• Oversee internal audits and compliance reviews.

• Support and guide the Safety Manager and Safety Officers embedded at operational sites.
• Conduct site visits, inspections, and leadership engagements to ensure system adherence and cultivate a safety-first culture.
• Drive reduction in risk profile via, amongst others, effective learning from near misses and implementation of mitigation measures.
• Respond to significant incidents and lead / support investigations in collaboration with appointed safety personnel.

• Promote a proactive, behavioural and values-based safety culture that empowers all employees to prioritize safety.
• Facilitate high-impact safety leadership training and awareness programs.
• Encourage learning from incidents and near misses.

• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Health & Safety, Mining Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in mining safety, with at least 5 in a senior or strategic leadership role.
• Strong understanding of South African safety legislation (MHSA, OHSA) and CEO obligations.
• Proven experience developing and leading safety management systems in a mining services environment.
• Strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Incident investigation and root cause analysis training (e.g. ICAM) – preferred.
• Registration with a recognized safety body (e.g. SACPCMP, IOSH) – advantageous.

• Strategic thinking and systems orientation
• Leadership and influence across functional lines
• Legal and regulatory acumen
• Strong analytical and reporting capability
• Cultural leadership in safety